How to Get Rid of Ticks on Children

As the weather begins to turn warm, children of all ages spend more time outdoors--playing, hiking, camping, bike riding. Unfortunately, as the weather begins to turn warm, ticks will latch onto children (and adults) and plump up with human blood in order to produce more ticks.

There are safe ways to remove ticks from children and dispatch the parasites, so they don't breed. With a little care, you can help keep your family safe from ticks and the Lyme disease they carry all summer long.

Things You'll Need

• Child-friendly insect repellent
• Long-sleeved shirts
• Long pants
• Tweezers
• Small, sharp scissors- like embroidery scissors
• Baby food jar
• Antibiotic cream

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Instructions

• 1

  Prevent ticks from getting on your children in the first place. When you know your kids will be outdoors for an extended period of time, especially if they plan to spend all or most of that time in the woods, dress them in long pants and long-sleeved shirts, if you can. Liberally spritz their hands and clothes with a child-friendly insect repellent that is good for ticks in addition to mosquitoes. Follow the directions on the bottle regarding how often to reapply.

• 2

  Check thoroughly for ticks. Once your child comes in, check his clothes carefully for crawling ticks. Also check your child's skin equally carefully for embedded ticks.

• 3

  Remove any embedded ticks. A pair of tweezers is a great tool to safely remove a tick--and, most important, its head that is buried in your child's skin. Firmly grasp the tick's body near the head and pull it straight out.

• 4

  Kill the tick. Because of their tiny size and hard, uncrushable bodies, ticks are hard to kill. A most effective way to dispose of a tick that has not been embedded in your child is to snip the body in two with a pair of sharp embroidery scissors. Flush the pieces down the toilet for optimal sanitary disposal.

  If you want an embedded tick tested for Lyme disease, save in a small jar.

• 5

  Apply antibiotic cream. Dab a bit of antibiotic cream on the tick bite. Watch for signs of infection.